


More Than I Bargained For

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Gen, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 11:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16554920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: Aaaand a second fill for @pillarspromptsweekly 62: Survivor. Now it’s Heodan’s turn, and lemme tell ya, I’m one tiny nudge away from running Adela 2.0 to make this happen(via hired adventurer)





	More Than I Bargained For

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand a second fill for @pillarspromptsweekly 62: Survivor. Now it’s Heodan’s turn, and lemme tell ya, I’m one tiny nudge away from running Adela 2.0 to make this happen(via hired adventurer)

 

At first Adela thought the hand shaking her shoulder was her mother or one of her siblings, trying to rouse her for school and made a half-hearted effort to comply.

“Hey, can you hear me? Are you alright?” Neither the voice nor the words it was uttering matched her theory. It was a _familiar_ voice, just not one of her family members. The curiosity alone was enough to drag her fully back to consciousness. She wanted to _know_.

Worried brown eyes met hers as they fluttered open, framed by tousled hair in matching shade and a furrowed brow. “Oh, good.” The furrowed brow smoothed as Adela sat up. “You had me worried.”

“H-Heodan?” It came out shaky, her head still feeling full of cobwebs. She shook them away, mentally scrambling for her bearings. “Where’s...?” A glance to her left answered that question _. ...Calisca_ . The blonde woman lay lifeless and still just a few feet away. “What... What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Heodan admitted with a sheepish grimace. “I... had to stop.” One hand pressed against the hastily bandaged wounds across his ribs; a parting gift from one of the skuldr they’d fought. “I was just inside the passage, I guess you two didn’t hear me say I needed a minute.” He ran one hand through his hair, tousling it even further. “And then... it sounded--and felt, really--like there was another bîaŵac . Did you... see anything?”

Adela nodded vigorously, despite the persistent buzzing in her head. That memory was seared in despite what had followed. “There was a man, in fancy robes...” She pushed to her feet and nearly fell over.

Heodan grabbed her arm to steady her. “Careful. Are you sure you’re alright....” he hesitated. “Adela?”

“Good memory,” she nodded, trying not to blush. Maybe she could blame _that_ on whatever was going on with her head, too. “You can call me Adi, if you want. Most of my friends do, and I think this ordeal qualifies us as friends.”

He gave a faint, short chuckle. “Well, then, Adi, are you sure you’re alright? You seem unsteady.”

“It’s just from banging my head,” Adela said wryly, fingers brushing the goose egg on the back of her skull. She was pretty sure it wasn’t, not really, not with the Ceremonial Man at the machine and the memories that were hers but _not_ buzzing in her head. _What **was** the question?_ But she didn’t want to worry Heodan, so she mustered a sheepish smile and ignored the whispers at the edge of her hearing as she promised, “I’ll be fine.”

Heodan shrugged. “I’ll take your word for it, then. What were you saying about a man in fancy robes?”

“Right.” Adela stopped trying to catch the ethereal figures in her peripheral vision and walked closer to the edge of the overlook. “He was down there” --she pointed-- “near the... machine, with other people who looked like acolytes or underlings of some kind.”

Heodan looked up at the sky, stars rapidly becoming visible as the sun sank further below the horizon. “Perhaps we should get a closer look? I can’t see much from up here.”

If she was feeling for herself, she might’ve teased about folk eyes and not being able to see in the dark. As it was, she simply nodded and tucked hair back toward her now-limp braid as they started walking. It was probably for the best; it would have felt perhaps tone-deaf given their current circumstances.

She was too distracted for conversation, anyway. The buzzing whispers still lingered in her ears, and she kept _seeing things_ out of the corner of her eye as they walked. A folk man stretched and struggling on a rack. An elven woman tied to a stake for burning. All of them vanished as soon as she turned to looked, so she stopped trying to really _see_ them.

When they reached the lower ground where the machine waited, Adela could _feel_ it. Like standing too close to a lightning strike, or the lingering effects of Kalakoth’s Jolting Touch. It was strong enough she checked to see if the fur on her arm was raised. It wasn’t, but Heodan caught the motion and shot her a quizzical look.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” he pressed.

Adela frowned up at him. “You don’t feel that? The air’s all buzzy.”

He seemed to slouch a little in relief. “Oh, that. Yes. I figured it was just something lingering after the bîaŵac , or whatever it was.” He huffed a wry laugh. “Can’t say I’ve ever experienced one of those before. I’ve no idea if that’s normal or...” The words trailed off as they moved close enough to see the four ashen-grey figures frozen to statues around the machine.

“Well, even if it _is_ normal, _**this**_ certainly isn’t.” Adela walked closer to one of the figures, head cocked in curiosity. _Guess I know what happened to those acolytes._ She brushed her fingers over its surface, not sure what she was expecting. She still jerked back in surprise when it crumbled to ash under her touch. “What the Hel-”

Heodan shook his head, looking as off put and queasy as she felt. “No idea. And, honestly, I don’t think I want to know.”

“Same here.” Adela shuddered as she looked at the other frozen men. _Wonder who they were..._  “I think we should leave.” Just this once she could let self preservation trump curiosity. Especially since neither she nor Heodan were at their best.

“I think that’s a good idea,” he said with a nod, picking at the hilt of one dagger with nervous fingers. “This place is...”

“Wrong,” she finished when he floundered. She curled the end of her braid around one finger. “Couldn’t agree more. We should push toward Gilded Vale, anyway.”

She cast one last look at the crumbled man, a few copper pands and other miscellaneous pocket contents catching the moonlight, and shivered again as she Heodan headed for the road to Gilded Vale. _This is not what I bargained for when I left home..._

##                                                ~~O~~

Heodan offered to take first watch when they finally stopped, six hours of exhausted, mostly silent travel, behind them. “No offense, but you seem like you need the rest more.”

“None taken, because I can’t really argue with that,” Adela replied with a sheepish laugh. Her head hurt. She still felt obligated to check. “Are you alright? You got banged up pretty good”--she gestured at his bandaged wounds--”and we’ve been walking for hours.”

“I’d be lying to say they don’t hurt,” he acknowledged, poking at their campfire with a stick. “But it’s not unbearable, and if I stay up to watch first, I can redo the bandages to be more secure. That will help.”

She blushed. “Yeah, sorry. I’m pretty good at a lot of things, but doctoring--beyond caring for someone with sniffles or something like that--isn’t one of them.”

The faintest hint of a weary smile tugged at Heodan’s lips as he shook his head. “No, you did a good job, under the circumstances. They’ve just... slacked some, with everything we’ve been through since.”

Adela ducked her head and played with her elephant pendant. “It’s nice of you to try an spare my feelings, Heodan, but I know my weaknesses.” She yawned, which made her headache worse. “And on that note, I’m gonna accept your offer and go to bed. G’night.”

She heard him chuckle as she ensconced herself in her bedroll. “Good night, Adi.”

##                                               ~~O~~

She wished she could say she slept well, but it would have been a lie. Her dreams had been weird, full of the same ominous whispers that now plagued her when awake, and interspersed with visions of towering adra pillars. She hid it well-enough Heodan turned in without noticing the dark circles under her eyes, and Adela spent her whole watch trying to analytically assess her new condition. _‘Not good’_ was the extent of what she got before the sun started to show.

Wanting a distraction from that grim thought, over breakfast she asked Heodan about his family. “I mean, you mentioned your brothers taking over the family business, but what’re they like? What’re your parents like? Do you all get along?” She winced apologetically. “Sorry. If you miss them or it’s a sore subject an’ you’d rather not talk about them, I understand completely.”

Heodan laughed and shook his head. “No, no, it’s fine. I do miss them--we were fairly close--but not so badly as that.” He took a bite of the dried venison that comprised the majority of their foodstuffs, and considered her questions as he chewed. “My parents are both homebodies; neither ever had much desire to leave our town. With my brothers taking over the mercantile, they’ve been able to devote their full attention to various hobbies.” He smiled. “For Mother, that includes playing nursemaid to Gyran’s children half the time so he and his wife can focus on the mercantile. She enjoys it, and it helps them. so everyone’s happy.”

“Gyran is...?” Adela hinted around a mouthful of venison.

“Sorry. My oldest brother. He and Lyam are the ones who took over the business, but Lydia--Gyran’s wife--helps with the bookkeeping since she has a knack for it.”

“And you got the traveling merchant role in this business,” Adela said, raising an eyebrow. “I still think you got the short straw there.”

“The lot of the youngest,” Heodan said with a philosophical shrug. “And I truly don’t mind, Adi. It’s a way to see more of the world without too much adventure. Or, at least, that was the plan,” he amended ruefully, fingers brushing his side. “This venture turned into a bit more than I bargained for. But Gyran and Lyam are much more suited to _running_ a business anyway. I haven’t the temperament for it.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Adela muttered as she finished off her breakfast.

“Too much of a soft touch,” he explained, then snorted softly and rolled his eyes. “‘ _Pushover_ ’ to use Lyam’s word for it.”

“That’s less hard to believe, though I don’t think I’d go so far as _pushover_ ,” she said as she stood and moved to start packing her bedroll. They hadn’t interacted too much back with the caravan; a few Kith’s Grace lessons and short conversations, including last night before everything went to Hel. Even from that, though, she’d gotten the impression he was soft spoken, mild mannered, and ethical. A rare combination in traveling merchants, from her experience. “And honestly, Heodan, I don’t see it as a _bad_ thing to be a soft touch. It means you care about people.”

“That’s a kind way to look at it,” he chuckled, wiping his hands on his poor shirt--which had _also_ seen more than bargained for--as he finished eating and moved to pack up camp. “Alright, your turn; what’s your family like? If you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. I’m the middle of seven, four brothers, two sisters. I know that _sounds_ big, but for orlans--at least in Ixamitl--it’s on the small side. One set of cousins there’s thirteen of ‘em.” She grinned at the look on his face. “Yeah. My older sibling are all grown with their own families now, so we don’t see them as much as we used to. Except Sirra, the older sister, she works Papa, so he at least sees her every day. My father’s one of the best tailors in Necazoa, so good there’re folk who ignore their... _prejudices_ about ‘our kind’ to come to him for clothes. Mama’s a scholar, she’s the one I take after, though she prefers academics and is more.... laid back about it, while I’m more interested in history and languages and have been known to lose myself so thoroughly in a book I forget to eat.” She laughed as she tied her bedroll to the bottom of her pack. “I do, however, have a healthy share of natural curiosity that makes me at least a little interested in _everything_.”

“This I noticed,” Heodan said, note of friendly teasing under the words. He straightened and kicked dirt over the campfire.

Adela rolled her eyes and laughed. “I don’t really hide it, so _noticing’s_ not hard. Putting up with it is another matter entirely. Anyway, the curiosity’s why I’m here; I wanted to see places, not just read about them.” The whispering surged off to her left and she darted a glance that direction, only to find nothing. _Damn, I hate this._  “Maybe got more than I bargained for as well.”

“On the bright side, we’re both still alive,” Heodan pointed out as he shouldered his pack.

“That is a very good thing,” she nodded, hoping he didn’t notice how flushed she probably looked. _Gods, calm down, Adi. He didn’t mean it like that. The weirdness is messing with your head._  “Shall we press on?”

He nodded in turn. “Ready when you are.”

##                                               ~~O~~

The rest of their journey to Gilded Vale was largely uneventful. There was one run-in with bandits when Adela stumbled upon their camp while looking for edible berries to supplement lunch, but that wasn’t a _hard_ fight. And the young dwarf they found tied up in the lone tent was effusive in his praise once they freed him.

Buoyed by their good deed--unintentional as it may have been--Adela was almost cheerful for a good portion of their travel. The whispers were still there, as were the ethereal figures in her peripheral vision, but she could push them away if she kept herself distracted. And Heodan made an excellent conversation partner, which accomplished that goal handily.

Their conversation died, however, at the sight that greeted them upon entering Gilded Vale. A huge, gnarled tree, bereft of leaves but creaking under the weight of over a dozen corpses. Adela actually stopped in her tracks and covered her mouth with one hand, eyes wide. She glanced up at Heodan and found him staring in similar horrified disbelief. _Usher have mercy._

She had to clear her throat to find her voice. “Still.. Still seem friendlier than Readceras to you?”

He didn’t answer, frozen and staring until she nudged him into motion. The two of them slowly--reluctantly--walked into the town, their burgeoning good moods thoroughly destroyed as they wondered what they’d gotten themselves into.

Adela shot another grim look at the tree and barely repressed a shudder. _Definitely more than we bargained for..._

**Author's Note:**

> OH, I wanna do things with this AU. So bad. Things that involve Heodan being the oasis of normal in the craziness that is Adi’s life now and her appreciating him so much for that. Maybe say he’s one of the merchants in Caed Nua after she finds all the companions and I stop using a rogue(Kana’s usually my mechanics guy). Gah. Because I needed another canon to write, yeah?


End file.
